Examinations Preparation for Your Personal Best Essay Type Questions

1
Examinations Preparation for Your Personal Best
Essay Type Questions

• Laurie Lumsden
• Student Counselling Service
• Trinity College Dublin
• Last modified April 04

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This Workshop Will Cover

• Planning your time
• Answering the question asked
• Breaking down the examination task
• Rehearsing performance at your personal best
• Control of the examination environment
• Developing strategies and rehearsing techniques
  for reducing performance anxiety

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Equal Time for Equal Marks

• Maximum gains for time are in the early stages of
  your answer
• Plan your time in advance
• Rehearse producing quality work in to time
  available

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The Most Common Reason for Exam Failure Is Not
Answering the Question

• Demonstrating that you understand the question is
  the first step in producing an answer
• How you structure your answer is as important as
  what you know
• More is not better

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Go! - Conditioned Reflex - Build an Introductory
Paragraph

• Deconstruct the question
• Restate the question in your own words
• Find and use the key words
• Show that you know what the point of the question
  is by defining the key words/concepts/theories/etc
  
• Say how you are going to answer the question

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Say How You Are Going To Answer The Question

• Tell em what your goin to tell em (8)
• Tell em (2)
• Tell em what you told em (6)
• Mark Twain

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Answer the Question

• Use headings that come out of your introductory
  paragraph
• Stick to your plan
• Know how much you can write in the time
• Convert the introductory paragraph into your
  summary
• Say why the issues raised by the question are
  important

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Rehearse Techniques for Personal Best Performance

• Visit the exam venue and get comfortable in it
• Use photos, sketches, etc to bring the exam venue
  into your study space
• Mentally place yourself in the exam venue when
  your are rehearsing

9
Visualisation

• Every athletes PB is in their mind
• Visualisation is a vital part of performance
  preparation
• Only ever visualise performing at your best

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What If?

• Know your potential examination anxiety
• Simulate coping with exam anxiety at home
• Practice time out in place and other recovery
  strategies
• Maintain your physical and mental health

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Rehearse Performing at Your Personal Best

• Practice your starting procedures
• Practice your starting procedures
• Practice writing full answers using your
  introduction as a template
• Mark your own answers as critically as possible
• Practice un-timed and timed

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A Word About Performance on the Day

• Avoid common mistakes
• Stay focused
• Recall the rehearsed processes for your answers
• Go for maximum gains
• Manage performance anxiety